This invention relates to hydraulic wood splitters attachable to a tractor or similar piece of equipment, and, more particularly, to improvements in a self-elevating wood splitter including an improved mounting arrangement.
There is disclosed in commonly assigned co-pending application Ser. No. 380,687, filed May 21, 1982, and now abandoned, a log or wood splitter having self-contained means for raising or lowering the same as required. That wood splitter included a mounting plate for fixed attachment to the tractor. The log bed and cooperating cylinder and ram were connected to the mounting plate by a pair of four-bar linkages which maintained the bed in the horizontal position at all levels thereof. Elevator plates were mounted from certain of the links and an elevator link was pivotally attached to said elevator plates. The elevator link included a pressure bar which could be pivoted into an operational position whereby it was atop the log bed and in the path of the ram. When the ram was operated, the elevator link activiated the four-bar linkage to raise the log bed. Lowering of the bed was achieved by reversing the procedure so that the bed dropped by gravity and with the ram acting as a brake.
The wood splitter of the said co-pending application also included locking means for retaining the bed at the desired height. Those locking means comprised slotted links pivotally connected to one corner of the four-bar linkages and cooperating with threaded bolts and wing nuts associated with other of the links in the four-bar linkages. The hand-operated wing nuts first had to be loosened to permit the adjustment and then tightened sufficiently to lock in the desired height and resist loosening during the percussive and jarring wood splitting operations.